Don’t Wait for Washington to Fix Our Country…

… You Hold the Power Right in Your Hand.

Millions of manufacturing jobs have gone overseas in the past 30 years. First there was a lot of talk out of Washington telling us that it would help us in the end. Not so much. Now there is a lot of rhetoric from both parties about bringing those jobs back. Unfortunately, not much has changed other than the nature of the political grandstanding. But, there is another way…

We do not have to wait for Washington to put American manufacturing back in business – we can do it ourselves with the power within our wallet.

There are thousands of small manufacturing business in the United States that make the things you buy every day. Many of them, however, are not available in stores because stores sources their goods in the cheapest place possible, usually not the United States. If you are like me you believe in supporting Made in The USA but you also can’t afford to pay more. Well, more good news…

Many of these small manufacturing companies have websites and can sell and ship direct to you, which cuts out the middleman. Even though their manufacturing cost is higher they can still be competitive with the store price because there is no middleman store markup. Many people are not aware of this but, between the brand that does the outsourcing and the store, the markups range from 40 percent  and 90 percent on most things you buy. This leaves a lot of room for the American manufacturer to compete and still make a respectable profit on sales. Most importantly it allows you to support jobs in the United States without paying more. And, as an added bonus, normally you get a far superior product in terms of quality compared to the imports.

“But how do I find these manufacturers,” you may wonder…

Well, there are two methods that work well. One is to use your search engine and put “made in the USA” right after whatever it is that you are looking for. Almost all American manufacturers will have an ad via Google search that will lead you right to them. This also works with Yahoo and Bing but Google is your best bet.

The second way is to go through websites that have dedicated themselves to promoting companies that are making products here in America. A few good examples include: Buydirectusa.com, themadeinamericamovement.com, and themiaco.com. Other online stores feature a myriad of products from A to Z, all made in the U.S.A. Some examples of these online stores include: madeinusaforever.com, usalovelist.com, and americansworkin.com, but the list goes on.

Our company, Liberty Tabletop, manufactures flatware; in fact we are the only manufacturer of stainless steel flatware left in the United States. Our cost is too high to compete with Chinese factories who supply brands and retailers, but we have enjoyed tremendous success selling direct online via our website. We also benchmark our price against what you find in mainstream retail to ensure that we are competitive with the imports. Over the past four years web sales have reached $2M, and we have amassed thousands of happy customers along the way. We made it simple for them to find us via a Google search and used social media to spread the word.

There are thousands of American manufacturing companies that are following this B2C (business to customer) web model that are anxious for you to visit them online. All it takes is that click of the mouse and remember, the power is in your wallet to help bring American Manufacturing back, regardless of what happens in Washington.